In recent years, propolis has been the object of extensive
research for its antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antitumoral
activities. This study aims to determine the hepatoprotective efficiency of
propolis on experimental endotoxemia in rats.

In the current study, fifty adult Sprague Dawley rats
(weighing 200–300 g) were randomly divided into five groups of ten rats each.
Normal saline solution was administered to the rats in the control group, while
in the second group LPS (30 mg/kg), in the third group propolis (250 mg/kg), in
the fourth group first propolis and then LPS (30 mg/kg), and in the fifth
group, first LPS (30 mg/kg) and then propolis were given. Six hours after the
application, biochemical (MDA levels) and histopathological changes as well as
global DNA methylation analysis in the liver tissue samples were determined,
while in the blood tissue samples Genomic Template Stability (GTS, %) was
evaluated using RAPD-PCR profiles.

The results demonstrated that the administration of propolis
could have a protective effect against changes of both genomic stability values
and methylation profiles, and it minimized the increase in MDA and tissue
damage caused by LPS.

In conclusion, the application of propolis prior to
LPS-induced endotoxemia has shown to reduce hepatic damage.